New York Giants sign DE McDougle

Chris O'Meara/APMcDougle will battle with Renaldo Wynn and Dave Tollefson for the backup spots behind Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka. Unless, of course, Wynn or Tollefson are cut to make room on the roster.

The Giants have signed former Eagles DE Jerome McDougle to a one-year, $1-million contract, according to someone familiar with the deal. McDougle, 29, cut yesterday by the Eagles, will add depth to a position thinned by the knee injury to Osi Umenyiora in the preseason.

McDougle, the Eagles' first-round pick in 2003, has only three sacks in his career but had 2½ this preseason. Philly had depth at the position, so they decided to rid themselves of McDougle, who has battled injuries and missed the 2005 season after suffering a gun-shot wound in the preseason.

"It was an extremely difficult decision for us," Eagles GM Tom Heckert said yesterday. "He's a great guy and he's worked real hard to come back from adversity. ... Every year he showed the determination to come back. We thought long and hard about this. We're keeping so many defensive linemen that we couldn't rationalize keeping another one."

McDougle is also the player who absolutely crushed Giants QB Eli Manning in his first NFL regular-season game.

One player must be cut to get the roster back down to 53. We'll see who it is.

3:59 p.m. UPDATE Sounds like DT Rodney Leisle could be the odd man out. Oh, and Houston and Carolina were also interested in McDougle.